Senate kills bill on NSA domestic surveillance reform

The USA Freedom Act has failed in the Senate, stalling an effort to reform certain federal surveillance programs before an end-of-the-month deadline ends the government’s ability to collect the phone records of Americans.

During a Senate vote on Friday, the bill was rejected by a vote
of 57-42. It had previously been passed in the House of
Representatives with overwhelming success.

The Senate will return to Washington on May 31 to consider ways
to prevent the expiration of the program on June 1, according to
Republican US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Had lawmakers approved the Freedom Act, the bulk collection of
Americans’ telephone records, as conducted by the government
under a controversial interpretation of Section 215 of the
Patriot Act, would have been limited by new restrictions.

The “USA Patriot Act” as a whole also fell short of
being adopted, with the Senate voting 45-54. A total of 60 votes
in favor were needed to advance the measure.

On June 1, the legal authorization permitting the bulk collection
of American’s so-called phone “metadata” expires, calling into
question the future of federal counter-terrorism and national
security operations.

On Friday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest lashed out at
the Senate’s reluctance to move on the bill as the deadline drew
nearer.

“The refusal of the Senate to consider this legislation in a
similar bipartisan spirit puts at risk not just the bipartisan
compromise, but it puts the risk of our national security
professionals to keep us safe,” Earnest said.

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court recently concluded that the
Patriot Act provision never authorized the federal investigators
to collect business records containing telephone data and other
information, contrary to the government’s post-9/11 assertions.